Monday, September 12, 2005

Broccoli Calzone

A wholegrain calzone filled with broccoli and tofu "ricotta", a tiny container of tomato sauce for drizzling over bites of calzone, some sweet casaba melon, and one little aplet* for a treat.Verdict: Calzones pack well and are easy to eat with your hands. He loved the filling but not the "crusts" (oh, kids and their crusts!). 4 stars.*Does the rest of the world know about aplets & cotlets or is it a Washington thing? They are powdered sugar-covered soft jelly candies with walnuts -- no gelatin! They remind me of Turkish Delight.

23 comments:

RichBeBe
said...

I am an elementary school teacher and a vegan, whose wife sends to school almost everyday with lunch. My wife is an excellent vegan chef and I am going to buy one of the laptop lunch boxes for myself (or ask for it as a gift).I have to say that I watch what my student seat and I want all of their parents to look at the lunches you send your son to school with and hopefully get some ideas.

Hi, Jennifer, I'm really doing my best to follow your footsteps though I'm no chef and not as creative. We just finished day 3 and both girls are really enjoying the whole thing. I asked my girls to rate the meals. I said to my 6 year old, "How many stars, from one to five?" She said, "9." I'm like, cool.

I just found your website and love it! I want to try some of your ideas on my stepson... though he loves meat, with lunches like this I don't think he'll notice it's gone! :) I'm also picking up a laptop lunchbox this weekend!

Since it's Spring Break for you guys I'm browsing through the archives for new inspiration and ran across this Aplets and Cotlets post. Having grown up in Northern Idaho and now living on the East Coast I thought "wow, these would be a great treat for my kiddos" - they do not exist back here! I got on the phone and called my mom (in Moscow) and she said they are only seasonal...? I followed your link and am impressed at how far Aplets and Cotlets have come. I think my kiddos will be happy to find these yummy treats in their Easter Baskets! Thanks for reminding me of a piece of the Pacific Northwest! ;)

I like Aplets and Cotlets but will not buy them because they are packaged with so much waste! If you are interested in cutting down on waste, why purchase these? Inside the box is a large plastic tray with A LOT OF WASTED SPACE. These are very dense confections and could be easily packed close together in candy papers to keep them from sticking vs. the wasteful plastic tray. They could be packaged in 1/4 of the box they now use up. If they ever change their packaging, I will buy them but until then, I will not.

I just made the broccoli calzones and, since I'm just one person with one small fridge, was wondering if you've ever frozen the calzones before baking. Half the batch in wrapped in the fridge for tomorrow morning (and for next week's lunches), but the other half I stuck in the freezer for later. Were your freezing-before-baking attempts successful or should I remove them from the freezer immediately? All the ingredients are freezer-friendly individually . . .